The New Mexico House of Representatives has taken the first step toward including opioid addiction as a qualifying condition for the state’s medical marijuana program.

House Memorial 67, which passed unanimously Tuesday, will direct the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee to take testimony about the possible relevance of marijuana as a treatment for opioid use disorder. Local Reps. Joanne Ferrary, Rudy Martinez and Bill McCamley, all Democrats, were among the five co-sponsors.

“Opioid use disorder often goes untreated because medication assisted treatment is not accessible to many residents of New Mexico, especially those living in rural areas of the state,” Ferrary said. “This proposal would provide patients with a new option to discuss with their medical providers.”

Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, has introduced a similar memorial in the Senate.

“It is past time that this secretary do this,” he said. “People are dying every day in the state of New Mexico from opioid abuse, and medical marijuana has proven to be a safer treatment for any underlying conditions and certainly, hopefully, to step people down from opioid addiction into something safer that won’t kill them.”

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